LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - 8/1/2014

MICHAEL J. MULLEN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Work progresses on the University of Scranton’s $47.5 million, 111,500-square-foot, eight-story, center for exercise science, occupational therapy and physical therapy under construction at Linden Street and Jefferson Avenue. The facility on the site of the former YWCA and more recently, Leahy Hall, is expected to be completed next summer. A letter writer praises the undertaking while proposing a unique way to handle the tax burden required to support nonprofit institutions.

Fight the dark side

Editor: The calendar has just changed to August and negative campaign ads are well underway in the gubernatorial race.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United that money equals speech, special interests have been flooding our elections with cash. The result has been an election process dominated by secret money and negative advertising.

In an effort to stem the tide of negativity, Common Cause/PA has asked Gov. Tom Corbett and Tom Wolf to sign the People’s Pledge. Designed to curb the influence of dark money groups and anonymous donors in campaigns, the pledge commits candidates to making charitable contributions from their campaign treasuries to offset funds spent on their behalf by independent super PACs and nonprofit groups.

We urge Mr. Corbett and Mr. Wolf to sign the People’s Pledge. Their commitment would spare voters from a barrage of mudslinging attack ads and would encourage a clean campaign with honest and robust debate.

ELIZABETH RANDOL

COMMON CAUSE/PA

Built-in crisis

Editor: There is almost universal consensus that Gov. Tom Corbett’s fourth state budget will lead to devastating consequences for Pennsylvania families in the coming months (“Budget supports create uncertainty,” July 21).

As The Times-Tribune noted, the budget, in addition to being signed 10 days late, includes at least $1.5 billion and as much as $2 billion in one-time gimmicks and accounting tricks. It’s a house of cards that just will not last and, ultimately, Pennsylvanians will be left dealing with the rubble when it falls apart.

These unsustainable gimmicks include one-time revenue sources such as fund transfers, postponing bills, and inflating revenues to essentially make up money that just will not be there when the bills come through.

This is a “do-nothing” budget that Pennsylvanians just cannot afford. The spending plan does virtually nothing to the $1 billion in state funding that the governor has cut from our public schools since he took office. It does not include an expanded Medicaid program, leaving 500,000 Pennsylvanians without access to affordable health care.

It does not include a fair tax on the Marcellus shale gas drillers and it does not close any of the state’s massive corporate tax loopholes. The governor did include hundreds of millions in new corporate tax breaks, however.

Lawmakers and the next governor almost certainly will confront a budget crisis in the coming months as a result of this budget. It’s time to change course in Harrisburg and put Pennsylvania families first.

ROXANNE PAULINE

TAYLOR

Editor’s note: The writer is coordinator of the Northeast Pennsylvania Area Labor Federation.

Sad litany

Editor: Recently, Scranton was selected as the most unhappy place in the United States based on an analysis of some polls.

Why are the people unhappy? Maybe due to high taxes, high unemployment, high alcohol and drug use. The city has a lot of poor people who need help. All contribute to an overall feeling of apathy and hopelessness.

People no longer feel safe in their neighborhood with crime on the rise and gangs on the streets. We need more police presence.

Combine this with a bad economy and ongoing recession and the result is being unhappy.

The factories are gone, and there is no work. City streets need to be fixed. We all know the financial problems Scranton has. The sad fact is the years go by and nothing is ever done to correct the problems.

People just give up and eventually move away. It was no surprise last year that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a survey that ranked Lackawanna County fifth in the state for excessive drinking. People drink to forget.

Everything costs more today, making entertainment and activities less affordable. There should be more places to go and things to do.

Scranton didn’t get this reputation overnight. It took years of neglect. It’s sad and embarrassing that people on the outside view our city as a joke.

This is our home. It’s going to take a lot of hard work to change things and people with the courage to do it instead of just passing the buck, like always. That’s easy.

BILL LOVELAND

SCRANTON

Nonprofit zone

Editor: Congratulations to the University of Scranton on the construction of a high-rise building in Scranton.

As an architect, I am delighted to see investment in the city, especially a high-rise building, which by their nature are expensive to construct. Regardless that the building’s owners pay little or no taxes, it is an important addition to the city.

In light of the expansion of nonprofits in the city such as this building, and given that the city can no longer provide services to its residents without being bailed out by surrounding communities, I have a suggestion to help solve the problem.

I think we should expedite the complete abandonment of all private residential and business entities in the city. Let the city be composed completely of nonprofit institutions, whether they are municipal, county, state or federal governmental buildings, higher education, or medical use.

This will distribute the tax burden to provide all services to these institutions equitably on people in the entire region, and not merely on the handful of people who still reside in the city and love the convenience and metropolitan environment that it provides.

EUGENE M. OGOZALEK

SCRANTON

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